Long time, no see.. random, random

Mountains, sky, and strip in the distance

It's been weeks hasn't it?  We've survived the Mayan apocalypse and the holiday season (well there is still New Years I guess)- I can't be the only one relieved, can I? 

The holidays were really stressful for me this year and I'm not sure why.  Oh yeah-- it's because I procrastinated until 2 weeks before before xmas to start making handmade gifts!
 
Consequently I really crapped out on the dinner (thanks to my awesome sis and sis-in-law for the potluck; sorry I burnt the rolls).




Yoko!

I might not have posted anything in almost a month, but I've kept the blogger mentality. I've taken photos of most of the stuff I made and some of the noteworthy food I've cooked--  so there's no shortage of material!

But some of my presents haven't reached their recipients yet (did I mention I procrastinated this year?) so I think I will wait on the show and tell....






Instead, lets talk kolaches!!

ricotta cheese kolaches

What is a kolache?  Well if you are from the Czech republic or Texas-- who ever thought a sentence would start like that?-- then you know they are a delicious sort of danish pastry thing. 

I am neither from the Czech republic or Texas, but I am an avid reader of America's Test Kitchen, and when I saw the kolache recipe in the newest Cooks Country I knew I wanted to make them.

Mixed berry kolaches

This is just the type of thing I love to bake.  Complicated and delicate.  Precise and impressive.  Because in general, you can't rationalize the act of baking, so if you are going to bother with the time and expense it might as well be something amazing!

Ricotta cheese kolache

The recipe makes 16 pastries, and they stay fresh for about 3 days.... perfect for two people right?  Half are a lemon ricotta cheese, and half are a mixed berry filling.  They are dusted with a streusel.  The dough has a fine, firm crumb and a slightly sweet taste.

You can get the recipe here (you must sign up for a free trial).  Happy baking!





Frida!

Mixed Fruit Smoothie Recipe

Mixed Fruit Smoothie Recipe

1 overripe banana (the blacker the better)
1 overripe peach
3-4 strawberries
handful of blueberries (frozen is fine)
handful of raspberries
handful of blackberries
1/4 cup apple juice
Two scoops of whey protein powder
Tbls agave syrup
8-10 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.  Enjoy!

NOTES: The fruit combinations are very flexible, just use the fruit you have on hand.  The only fruit I keep in is the overripe banana.  Just use several handfuls of whatever fruit you have on hand, the riper the better. 

A little agave syrup goes a long way!

 



Mixed Fruit Smoothie

Peanut Butter and Jam Cake

Peanut Butter and Jam Cake

I made this cake yesterday... delicious!  Very, very sweet though...

A white layer cake with rasperry preserves.  Peanut butter buttercream frosting (try saying that 3 times fast).   Tastes just like the name suggests. 

You can get the recipe for free here!
And the white layer cake recipe here.

Sun Belt Scrambled Eggs

Sun Belt Scrambled Eggs

Serves 2-4

Notes: This recipe could easily be doubled for a crowd.  I prefer the dried sun-dried tomatoes, as opposed to the ones packed in olive oil.  A little blue cheese goes a long way!

Ingredients:
6 eggs
2-3 tbls milk
2 tbls butter
4 scallions, chopped thin
handful of grated white cheddar cheese
handful of sun-dried tomato
half avocado, sliced thin
handful of blue cheese
Salt and Pepper

1. Add 2-3 tbls milk in a bowl with cracked eggs, salt and pepper.  Beat vigorously with a fork until mixture is thickened and uniform in color.  (the milk will make your eggs fluffier; you can sub heavy cream or half and half)

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in skillet til foaming.  Add chopped scallions and saute til onions are softened and starting to brown.

3. Add beaten eggs to skillet.  Throw cheese and sun-dried tomatoes on top of eggs and stir gently to combine.  Let eggs cook for a few minutes without stirring-- this will set the curds.  Then stir gently and sparingly with a wide spatula, scooping from underneath the eggs and gently flipping them over.  This gives the eggs a large, fluffy curd.

4. Remove eggs from heat; when they are done cooking they should appear only slightly moist and should be almost beginning to brown.  Sprinkle blue cheese and top with avocado. 

Enjoy!

Granny sampler afghan stitch along, week 4 and pizza

I finished up my blocks for this weeks afghan stitch along days ago, and forgot to post a pic of them!  I still have to weave in the ends..

Granny afghan sampler, week 4

Had my favorite pizza for dinner tonight: America's Test Kitchen's pizza margherita.  It is so good, and easy to make too!  The dough has a thin crispy outer layer, and a chewy inside..

Like most pizzas, the higher the quality of ingredients, the better the end result.  I try to use a good mozzarella and a good pepperoni (like boar's head).  I normally add chopped basil, but didn't have any on hand. 

Pizza Margherita

After it comes out of the oven, drizzle it liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt flakes-  it is seriously good! 

I recommend checking out America's Test Kitchen's site, where you can get a 14 day free trial of all their recipes.  I cook almost exclusively with Test Kitchen recipes, as they are always spot on.

Nanny's Berry Cobbler

Nanny lived in a little house that sat on an old farm.  The old farm sat on a mountain in Alabama.  The farmland had been in our family for generations, but over the years parts were sold off until only a little remained.
 
It was flanked with creeks and ponds.  No one had farmed the land in years and it was all grown up.  The woods had taken over most of the sheds and honeysuckle grew into and around and on top of the barn.
 
The fences that used to mark the boundaries of the fields now served as trellises for wild blackberry bushes.
 
When school was out for the summer we visited Nanny, and the blackberries were always ripe.  She would give us a basket, and we would wade through the fallow pasture to pick the firm, tart berries.  And she would make us this cobbler.

Nanny's Fruit Cobbler

1 cup flour
1/2 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups berries

1. Whisk dry ingredients
2. Add milk and melted butter to dry ingredients
3. Pour batter into ungreased 1 1/2 quart dish
4. Distribute berries evenly over batter

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.  Don't over bake.  Bake time will depend on the shape and height of your baking dish.  Center should be set, and toothpick should come out clean.  Top will be a deep golden brown.  Let sit 20 minutes before serving

This cobbler is very moist, with a large crumb.  The butter creates a crisp top layer, while the milk keeps the middle white and moist.  The berries sink to the bottom forming a tart base.  Serve warm!

Summer berries

I know that by this point in human evolution, no one cares about photographs of berries- but I just can't help myself!  They are so photogenic. 

And they are posing in a bowl from my Strawberries 'n Cream dinnerware set! 

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After my husband and I moved into our first home (side note: it was next to a whiskey distillery, so the smell of sour mash was always in the air), my parents came over with a cardboard box.  Inside was the strawberries 'n cream dinnerware set including bowls, plates, saucers, a sugar bowl...


Oh, the cherished gifts we are given when starting our adult lives.. when the heavy reality of having to buy your own pillowcases sets in..
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But the summer berries above are not as random as they appear.  Check back this weekend, and join me in a berry cobbler!  I will be posting my Nanny's fruit cobbler recipe and trust me, you don't want to miss it! 

Breakfast Today

My man cooked me up an impromptu breakfast this morning!  (well, I had to beg him a little)

Fluffy scrambled eggs, orange juice, and waffles with: butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar, strawberries, and whip cream   (waffles are Trader Joes whole grain)

Bok Choy Blossoms

Bok Choy Blossoms

Cooking dinner tonight, I found in the center of a head of bok choy: a bouquet of flowers!
 
I don't recall having ever found blooming flowers in bok choy before.. but deep in the prospect of lots of vegetable chopping, these little yellow flowers brightened my mood!

Double Yolk Egg

While making fudge brownies last night and I got suprising news.. twins!
 
I have cracked open double yolk eggs before, and it's one of those things you have to stop and examine for a minute.

Fried Chicken Etc..

so bad and so good

So, I try to stay away from fried food as much as I can, and I almost never cook it myself.  That being said, I am a southern girl and grew up on all manner of fried foods-- so I enjoyed my dinner very much today. 

gizzards and hearts

We had a get together to watch the University of Louisville play in the sweet sixteen (they won, yay!), and my little sister completely outdid herself.  On the menu: fried chicken legs, gizzards, and hearts, mashed potatoes, black-eyed peas, corn on the cob, biscuits and gizzard gravy.  It was so good!

Blueberry Scones

I made some British style blueberry scones for breakfast today. 

American scones sometimes have the bad habit of cooking up like dense bricks.  Apparently British scones are more like lightly sweetened biscuits. 

These have fresh blueberries and a bit of lemon zest.  Delicious!



Yum!

I got the recipe from my favorite America's Test Kitchen.  You can get this recipe, and many more free with a 14 day trial, just click the link above!

Dinner tonight, Steak Teriyaki



This is one of my favorite 30 minutes meals.  Steak, homemade teriyaki sauce, rice, scallions- yum!!

Pan fried new york strip steak mmm

You can get the recipe here with a free trial.  You can read about my love of America's Test Kitchen here.

Bonty Bread

This simple and delicious banana bread recipe comes from a great baker and a great friend to my parents, a woman named Bonnie.  This bread is moist, tender, and great with a pat of butter.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family has over the years!

Bonty Bread

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 overripe bananas
Handful of chopped nuts, optional
Handful of chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Cream oil and sugar, either with a hand held mixer or in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment

2. Add eggs, beat til combined

3. Sift or whisk together the flour and baking soda; add to sugar mixture and beat til well combined. 
*Note: Batter will be very thick

4. Mash the bananas on a plate with a fork.  Add bananas to batter, beat until combined, scraping down bowl as necessary.

5. If including chocolate chips and nuts, add them to batter and stir by hand to combine.

Pour batter into greased loaf pan: either one standard size or four mini. This recipe also bakes up well as muffins (just line the tins).

Bake times are as follows:
Standard loaf pan: 1 hour (cover loosely with foil last 10 minutes to prevent over cooking of top)
Mini loaf pan: 35-40 minutes
Muffins: 22-25 minutes

Poke with toothpick to ensure center is done.  It should come out clean or with only a few moist crumbs.  Take care not to over bake!  Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen edges with knife before removing.  Cool on wire rack til warm.  Store in airtight container. 
Enjoy!




A short list of pantry staples make up this bread



Cream together the sugar and oil



Add the eggs and continue to beat

The batter is very thick before you add the bananas! The consistency

of cookie dough

Mash the bananas with a fork first to make them easier to
incorporate

After the bananas are beaten, the batter becomes moist. The riper the

bananas, the sweeter the bread will be.

Chocolate chips and nuts and optional, but who would complain?

I like baking them in a mini loaf pan, it cooks up quicker and they are

easier to give as gifts!



Chocolate Fluff Cookies

I mix between a mallomar and a moonpie-- are you kidding me!

I made a dozen of these cookies yesterday and they are almost gone!  They are a cross between a moon pie and a mallomar and (yay!) require no baking.

The recipe is another gem from my very favorite America's Test Kitchen, and you can get the recipe with a free trial here. 
Read more about my love of America's Test Kitchen in this post.






Carr's crackers, marshmallow fluff, and dark chocolate!




Apple Strudel

Apples, golden raisins, walnuts, a squeeze of lemon, and a touch of cinnamon.. Fantastic!

I fixed this apple strudel tonight in the spare moments I had while cooking dinner. 
Apple desserts are my favorite, and I love a good strudel (though this was my first attempt at making one). 
Instead of the time consuming and laborious method of mixing and stretching the dough thin enough to see through, this recipe uses phyllo dough. 
Sure, it's not completely authentic, but I didn't get many complaints!


You can get the recipe here. (though you must sign up for a free trial, I highly recommend America's test kitchen as their recipes are the best out there!) 

**You can read more about my love of America's Test Kitchen in this post.